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He is excited by that and wants to finish where it all started back in Wales. He has a huge amount of ambition and is exactly what we need in that dressing room because he has been around the block and has had a lot of different coaches.

Will Gavin play outside-half, inside-centre or full-back?

Wales Under-20 outside-half Arwel Robson

I am very excited by the three young 10s, Angus O’Brien, Dorian Jones and Arwel Robson.

I spoke to Gavin about the role that I see him having and if he is the best 10 then he will play 10, but there are certain games where he can play 12 and help those young 10s develop with his vision and communication.

There was a revolt from some players at Grenoble when you banned puddings from the menu at the training ground. What actually happened?

I did ban desserts – part of the reason was I was eating them all myself!

The dessert issue for me was because there were a lot of players in our squad who didn’t have acceptable body fat levels.

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I want the team I coach to be unbelievably detailed in their level of excellence and search to be professional.

If there are people who don’t agree with that then obviously we will have conflict. I wanted the club to become a top-six side but unfortunately there were a group of players who were happy to stay as a team that played to stay up every year.

For me that’s not exciting, I want players and coaches who want to get better. If that means sacrifices in certain areas then so be it. I wouldn’t drop my standards.

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Are you retaining the services of forwards coach Ceri Jones and backs coach Shaun Connor at the Dragons?

I’ve spoken to Shaun and Ceri, giving them clarity in terms of their roles and responsibilities. I am going to help them.

Shaun and Ceri are enthusiastic, they are young coaches and it’s my job to give them the support they need to give our players the best possible information. Our job is to develop players.

I would like to think that when I leave here, whenever that is, somebody within the organisation will be ready to step up to be head coach.

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If we cannot improve our scrum we are going to struggle to implement the game we want to play. The scrum and improving the defence is high-priority.

I’m doing an audit of the back-room stuff to find out what their thought process was last season, what worked, what didn’t and why.

In the teams I was in which won – Leinster under Michael Cheika became more successful and Ireland won a Grand Slam under Declan Kidney – players knew what was expected of them in black and white. There was no hiding places.

What’s your ambition for the Dragons?

Wales wing Hallam Amos is a key player at the Dragons

The long-term goal for me is to qualify for Europe’s Champions Cup year in year on.

I was sold on the story of starting something. It’s a fresh start for rugby in Gwent and it’s exciting for me.

We have got to create our own identity. If you are not developing what are you doing coaching?

If you are going to go out and sign a Leigh Halfpenny or another world star, you still have to develop them.

What’s your assessment of the Pro12?

It’s better with refereeing standards having gone up with more professional referees.

There’s more opportunities to play because there’s less pressure with no relegation and you can give young players an opportunity at certain times.